Tag: UFC 109

“On This Day in MMA History” pays tribute to some of the more bizarre and infamous moments from MMA’s past. Four years ago today, on February 6th, 2010, UFC 109: Relentless took place, featuring Mark Coleman’s final appearance in the UFC, Matt Serra’s final victory in the UFC…and an Octagon ice spill that will forever live in infamy. The following post was published on CagePotato three days later.

It’s no one’s fault, really, except maybe the person who decided to use a cheap grocery store produce bag in Torres’s corner. The thing comes apart at the most inopportune time, and the result is a group of grown men trying frantically to clean up a large pile of ice while Rogan yells at them and a packed arena boos their efforts.

The difficulty these men (or, as Rogan refers to them, “the goddamn Three Stooges”) have in this task just goes to show how much more difficult everything becomes in a high-pressure situation. Try unlocking your front door while someone yells at you about what an incapable moron you are, or clean up broken eggs on the kitchen floor as your emotionally unstable girlfriend stands nearby and refers to the situation as “a disaster.” Then maybe you’ll understand.

The UFC has been too busy dealing withtheir own shit to put much effort into screwing with Scott Coker lately [Ed. note: Remember when they were going to hold a rival fight card in Nashville? God, those were were the days.], but yes, there will be a counter-programming show on Spike this Saturday, which will compete with the Showtime broadcast of Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery. Titled "UFC’s Ultimate Fights," the two-and-a-half-hour compilation special kicks off at 10 p.m. ET/PT, and will feature some of Zuffa’s highlights from this year. On the docket…

It’s not a common occurrence for a new UFC fighter to immediately get cut if they lose their debut, but Rolles wasn’t just any prospect — his last name gave him a lot to live up to. Whether the pressure came from Dana White or the fighter’s humiliated uncle, there may have been concern about Rolles tarnishing the Gracies’ UFC legacy with any more godawful performances. As a 3-1 fighter, his story is by no means over. But he’ll need a little more seasoning before he makes a return to the bright lights and high pressure of MMA’s biggest stage.

(‘Is this about those stolen Octagon bracelets you found in my locker? Because I was just holding those for Baroni.’ Photo courtesy of The Sun.)

It’s a tough time to be licking your wounds in the UFC. In a move that likely has every fighter to post an ‘L’ on his record at UFC 109 sweating bullets, the organization has reportedly released the “next Anderson Silva,” the “Godfather of ground-and-pound,” and the guy who was on the wrong end of the UFC’s fastest knockout (officially, anyway). Let’s take them one at a time, shall we?

For the first few minutes things seemed to be going as planned. Then Rolles turned into an exhausted zombie, plodding flat-footed and open-mouthed around the Octagon before eventually giving up altogether and lying flat on his stomach as he waited for the referee to get bored enough to stop the bout.

A lot of trainers might try and soft-pedal their disappointment out of regard for the guy’s feelings after a fight like that. Renzo Gracie is not one of those trainers. Talking to GracieFighter.com, he called the performance “embarrassing,” adding:

(‘Dairy is rape, you son of a bitch!’ Photo courtesy of Fight Magazine.)

You can file this under the category of ‘Things That Should Have Been Obvious Without Any Supporting Evidence,’ but the ratings numbers from Spike TV’s recent broadcasts of select preliminary fights from UFC pay-per-views prove that fight fans actually like seeing more fights for free. As MMA Payout points out, the UFC 109 prelims scored the highest rating yet, despite the lack of big names (sorry Justin Buchholz fans, but it’s true), with an average of 1.7 million viewers for the hour-long broadcast.

This is one of those ideas that, in retrospect, seems baffling for it to have taken this long to come to fruition. The UFC isn’t doing much with those undercard fights anyway – they can’t show all of them, and it’s not like a bunch of people are willing to pay extra online to see Guillard and Torres go three rounds – and, who knows, you might even convince a couple people who were flipping through the channels on a Saturday night to pony up and buy the pay-per-view. Or maybe they find themselves watching Joe Rogan do a thorough analysis of an attempt to clean up ice and they flip back to “Man vs. Wild” reruns. Either way, keep them coming and we’ll keep on watching. Unless Bear Grylls goes somewhere really crazy, like the moon. Come on, Man vs. Moon? Forget about it. There’s just no way we’re missing that.

In this talk with Fox News’s "Fight Game" it’s difficult to tell whether Phil Baroni is drunk or just on the downward slope of a career spent getting punched in the head. It’s like that time you did a terrible karaoke rendition of "Little Red Corvette" before throwing up all over your girlfriend’s shoes. There’s only one acceptable explanation, and it’s ‘I was drunk.’ Let’s hope the seven-dollar beers at the Mandalay Bay were to blame for how this interview turned out, and not ten years worth of abuse in the cage.

The catalyst for this particular discussion is the UFC 109 victory by fellow New Yorker Matt Serra over one of Baroni’s Xtreme Couture training partners, Frank Trigg. Apparently, gym loyalties are nothing compared to regional ones. Plus, Serra goes into the Starbucks where Baroni’s mom works and gives her good tips, while all Trigg has ever done is make an awkward pass at her at Baroni’s wedding. Yet another situation where ‘I was drunk’ is the only explanation that will suffice.

After the jump, Eddie Bravo discusses his path to jiu-jitsu, and subtly overstates his own importance.

Of course, Coleman’s manager only said those things in retaliation for Ortiz calling Coleman a “sissy” after he pulled out of their scheduled bout with an injury, and then he apologized as soon as he calmed down and realized that an attack on Ortiz’s famous porn star girlfriend was neither cool nor necessary. But the HBBB isn’t going to let a little thing like that stop him from a) erroneously attributing the remark to Coleman, and b) being really immature about the whole thing. Why would he? This is Tito Ortiz we’re talking about here, who still insists that his ‘Chuck Liddell was an alcoholic’ comments were meant in the nicest way possible. He’s not one to let the truth get in the way of an opportunity to act like a total jerk.

After a night of upsets and several plodding decisions at UFC 109, we turn to the Potato Index to tell us who’s up and who’s down.

Randy Couture +77 Yes, he dominated Mark Coleman. And yes, that would have been impressive ten years ago. But let’s be brutally honest here. The way Coleman looked last night, there aren’t many light heavyweights in the UFC who couldn’t have beaten him. It’s still a good win for Couture, but it doesn’t necessarily mean he’s ‘getting better with age.’ It just means Coleman isn’t.

Mark Coleman -91 Two months in Vegas working with a striking coach and he still can’t be bothered to move his head out of the way of a punch? DW is right; it’s time for “The Hammer” to hang it up. You don’t want to become another Ken Shamrock, Mark.

Please, Ciarán, e-mail us at feedback@cagepotato.com and tell us how exactly you have a hundred-point lead on the next closest competitor, this early in the game. There might be a free t-shirt in it for you.

And now for the shameless gloating part of this post. After BG and BF went head-to-head in a Palooka Pool, I (BG) am proud to say my picks were on-point enough to tie for first-place (!!!), while dickface over there tied for fourth. The other winners of Palooka Pool 30 #173 were: nine one siccness, Steve Rowbotham, James Cowley, Michael Aitken, GSPs Swollen Elbow and Torn Groin and Tim Prothero. Take an e-bow, fellas. And I should mention that there was one genius in the pool named James Berberich who managed to get every question wrong. I feel sorry for your mother, bro.

For those who fell short with their UFC 109 picks, you just have to dust yourself off and get back on the horse. Here’s what’s going on in FightPicker this week…